The GBT – The Good, The Bad and The Telling sandwich, where The Bad is nice and lean and the The Telling is ripe.

click above image for boxscore

THE GOOD: Jeff Niemann. The Giraffe allowed just 1 run in 3.2 innings. The big numbers were 6 strikeouts and 0 walks…Sean Rodriguez. Making the start in RF, Rodzilla hit his 4th home run and is now 10-25 in the spring…Reid Brignac. He was 0-2 at the plate, but made some strong defensive plays at SS…Justin Ruggiano. He is not getting a lot of playing time in the early innings, but he did hit his 3rd home run of the spring and went 2-4 getting the start in LF.

THE BAD: The Bullpen. Mike Ekstrom and Joe Bateman combined to give up 7 runs (5 earned) in 3 innings…Carlos Pena. Another 0-3 and he is now 0-18 with just 2 walks. But maybe more telling is that Pena has only struck 4 times in that 0-18. When Pena struggles, he strikes out. A Lot. Last year, he struck out once every 3.5 plate appearances. This spring it is once every 5.

THE TELLING: Sean Rodriguez got the start in RF on Sunday…BJ Upton hit 2 home runs on Saturday (both to the opposite field). The last time Upton hit 2 HR in a regular season game was July, 2007 in Yankee Stadium…Matt Garza worked 5 innings on Saturday…Hank Blalock DH’d on Saturday (Pat Burrell was in RF, lord help us all) and went 0-3 with a walk…Dioner Navarro will play tomorrow…Matt Joyce might still be a week away.

DEVIL DOGS WEBTOPIA…

RJ Swindle, Jason Cromer and Craig Albernaz are the latest cuts as they were reassigned to minor league camp.

Stuart Sternberg wants balanced scheduling and more playoff teams. He also suggested that the line between “the haves and the have-notes” could become “problematic” in the next 10 years. [Rays Report]

Joe Maddon says the competition for the 5th spot in the rotation is “still wide open”…In other words, they don’t want Wade Davis to take his job for granted. [Tampa Tribune]

Winston Abreu had off-season surgery to remove an aneurysm from his arm. He is scheduled to make his debut March 22, the same as JP Howell. [St. Pete Times]

BJ Upton says he is trying to get back to hitting balls to the opposite field, something he says got him to the big leagues. [Tampa Tribune]